Enough For Every Child

From a small initiative begun in schools in the Dun Laoghaire Constituency, parents and school community members from all over Ireland are coming together to demand better for all our children. Specifically, we are calling for better provision of resources for children with additional needs, more Special Education Teachers (SETs) & Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to ensure best equality of opportunity for all children in every school. We need candidates running in the upcoming General Election to really understand the struggles our schools, pupils & their families, teachers, principals, SETs & SNAs are experiencing in trying to provide an education to all children of all abilities.

Currently, there is an enormous deficit in the provision of assessments, diagnoses, therapeutic services and a full complement of SET hours and SNA support in schools. Our goal is a fully inclusive education system where every child has the opportunity to flourish.

Our demand for The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child calls for the State to provide for the rights of every child in Ireland to an education. To respect the rights of all of our children, sufficient resources and support must be provided to every child to meet their own individual needs.  Under the current model, inadequate resourcing means that children are not guaranteed their right to equal access to education. We want to achieve cross-party support for The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child ahead of the General Election and to have the principles of this model included on the next Programme for Government.

 

We’ve identified key improvements needed in the current system that need to be urgently addressed or the pupils in each & every school will be impacted.

 

The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child must include:

Enough child-centred supports & resources to match needs rather than budget;
Enough class teachers;
Enough Special Needs Teachers for children who need them;
Enough Special Needs Assistants for children who need them;
Enough assessments available for children who need them;
Enough therapists to work with children who need them;
Enough mental health professionals available to work with children who need them;
Enough options for children and their families: To have options of placements in
mainstream schools, special classes in schools, and special schools according to each child’s needs.

Transparency in the Process:
Meaningful consultation with schools, parents and children’s advocacy groups is
necessary to inform the right inclusion model. 

Specific Problems that can be addressed by this pledge:
- Changing the criteria for access to supports has increased the pressure on schools who are without adequate resources. 
- Directing parents to schools for access to psychological assessments (via NEPs) is not meeting the needs of children as there is a massive shortfall in allocation of these assessments.
- Speech and Language, behavioural and psychological programmes formerly provided by trained professionals to children in schools cannot be outsourced to teachers (as envisaged by HSE strategies). The provision of these professional services directly from Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists and Psychiatrists needs to be restored to schools.

We are asking every representative and candidates in the General Election to pledge to deliver The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child as a matter of priority in the next government.